Chapter 4:Siege Of Shanghai

The force of Marines and Rangers made they're way into the city of Shanghai via Black hawks and Hueys, meanwhile, the air force was flying missions all over the city as the siege began. The force of Ranger and Marines landed at their rendezvous point with the fourth detachment Marines and the tank company designated Steel Company, the Rangers, Marines, and Steel Company had a simple objective take the cafe near the arcade which in theory is simple......unfortunately it's across two bridges which the Eastern Kingdom forces control, fortunately for the Equestrian forces in this sector their first objective the metro station was unoccupied meaning they can just walk in and secure it. After taking the metro station not much happened surely the Eastern Kingdom forces know they're here by now but before Sapphire or any of the other officers had time to question it Major Brightheart ordered a meeting, none of the officers were quite sure what their orders are complicating things, even more, is that the Supreme General made it clear that once they secured this sector they would halt their advance and dig in.

"Alright gents here's the deal, Eastern Kingdom forces control everything across the two bridges.........Supreme General has made it clear that we are to secure the skyscraper over the first bridge" the Major explained quite sternly not really seeming to be nervous

"Major what the hell is up with our orders" the Captain in charge of Steel Company was clearly annoyed with the forces current orders

"Captain........the Supreme General wants to control this sector because of the canal next to it" the Major let out a heavy sigh while the officers seemed happier having an explanation to their orders, Sapphire made her way outside about an hour later as the attack was about to commence......but before anything could take place a sudden rush of explosives and gunfire through the force into a panic as the Eastern Kingdom forces had launched an attack on the metro station from the skyscraper.

"I need help over here!!!" a panicked Marine screamed over comms needing help luckily Sapphire was close and used the metro station to reach the Marine feeling scared herself over the surprise attack.

"What's wrong Marine" Sapphire tried to sound as calm as possible asking the Marine what wrong and he simply pointed to a downed comrade who was groaning in agony.

"Please help me I've been hit!" the young female soldier was clearly in intense pain and suffering having been hit in the side, Sapphire cleared her head and pulled out a disposable needle of Morphine and gave it to her patient before getting on her knees removing her medic bag thankfully other Marines rushed over, seeing what was happening and laid down suppressing fire on some enemies just ahead of them but Sapphire and the injured Marine were behind a thick wall so they were safe. Sapphire spent the better half of the fight aiding the wounded and after the skyscraper had been secured the wounded were taken to it whereas it's sky bar had been turned into a field hospital due to its easy helicopter access, however, Sapphire was leading her soldiers in the attack on the arcade unfortunately for her they were pinned down by a tank just around the corner.

"We gotta get outta here!!" one of her Rangers had broken panicking but she managed to calm him down

"Keep a cool head we're gonna make it out of this alright?" Sapphire may get nervous during battle but she is a strong leader when it counts, this war was her first time fighting against another army and she was used to fighting insurgents who used guerrilla tactics, not an army who uses doctrines and conventional tactics. Sapphire had no idea how long she and her men could stay behind cover as the Type-99 rolled closer it tracks letting the Rangers know death was coming, the tank lowered its barrel to fire on the suppressed soldiers.

"This Commander Sapphire Alpha 1 is getting lit up by a tank!" Sapphire hoped an anti-tank squad would come to their aid but to her relief, an M1-A1 heard her call for support and rushed over giving her squad time to run to a safer position, Sapphire and her squad supported a lone machine gunner who were being suppressed by soldiers on an upper walkway in an open area which had become a battleground for a couple of tanks, the tank that had attacked then was below said walkway still fighting with the M1-A1 that saved their lives but the Type-99 soon became a flaming wreck as it took a hit to the side by a Smaw rocket. Alpha 1 made their way up some stairs leading the walkway but before they could surprise their enemies they were met by a hail of gunfire......thankfully no one was hit just a little rattled, the distraction Sapphire's squad provided gave the machine gunner time to adjust his weapon before he unleashed a torrent of lead forcing the enemy soldiers to retreat down a set of escalators and Alpha 1 was able to secure the walkway as the Eastern Kingdom forces retreated to the cafe the Equestrian forces final target for this sector. Auxiliary forces arriving from the metro station which had become the de facto HQ for this sector made the push to the cafe while the rest of force caught their breath, Sapphire was feeling the stress of the siege as made her way to the cafe with her soldiers.

"Medic!!!" a voice called out below a staircase and Sapphire responded immediately running across from her position in a shop to the staircase aided by an LAV-25 which arrived with the auxiliary forces, Sapphire located the injured soldier and to her shock it was a Stealth OPS sniper who hadn't been very lucky today with her DMR.

"Tell me what happened and where your hit" Sapphire set her medic bag on the ground unsure of how long she would be there, the young mare pulled off her glove sleeve which was soaked with blood.

"Lucky bastards got me in the shoulder!" the young soldier managed to say that much before gritting her teeth, Sapphire nodded removing the sniper's flak vest and giving her a shot of morphine for the pain and to ensure she wouldn't go into shock but it was surprising she hadn't already gone into shock. After a quick examination Sapphire came to the conclusion that she would have to dig the bullet out of the mares shoulder.....unfortunately for both of them Sapphire had no surgical equipment and they were in the middle of a war zone, Sapphire quickly looked around and found an empty shop close by and after alerting the others to what she was about to do Sapphire helped the sniper back into her flak jacket and helped her up after putting back on her medic bag remembering to grab the soldiers DMR on before heading to the empty shop. After taking her patient into the back room and locating the light switch Sapphire took off her helmet, balaclava, flak vest, and gloves before putting on a pair of surgical gloves removing the sniper's flak vest once again only this time she removed the soldier's other glove sleeve and her short tank top, the young mare started blushing slightly before Sapphire pulled out her combat knife and disinfected it.

"W-what are you doing?" the sniper was unsure of what was about to happen as Sapphire prepped her makeshift surgical tool

"I have to dig the bullet out of your soldier now stay still this is gonna hurt" the sniper nervously nodded clearly fearful of the operation that was about to take place, Sapphire relaxed and steadied her hand as the young mare on the table in front of her took in a deep breath before....

"Fuck!!!" the young mare screamed out in pain as Sapphire dug out the bullet which fell onto the table with a metallic ding, Sapphire banged the sniper's shoulder before picking up the bullet and looking at it.

"This is a 5.8X42 DAP-87 round.......QBZ-95-1" Sapphire was able to identify the round and weapon it was fired from while the sniper put her tank top and then her gear on.

"You're able to identify the round and weapon?" the young mare was fairly curious as to how Sapphire knows all that information.

"It's the easiest bullet and weapon to identify in the Eastern Kingdom arsenal" Sapphire explained before discarding the bloody bullet and gloves in a nearby trash bin before putting back on her gear.

"My name is Recon.....thanks for saving me doc" Recon smiled before heading out to find her squad, Sapphire ran out into the continuous battle to find her squad as the final push to the cafe began, once at the cafe an intense firefight began and Sapphire sat behind a pillar at the building in front of the cafe. Bullets whizzed by, but Sapphire didn't flinch before quickly exposing herself and opening fire on the soldiers who were shooting at her.....she managed to hit one of them in the head a female support gunner her head snapping back from the force as her blood splattered on the ground behind her. Sapphire whipped back behind cover unsure of how to feel about the shot, Sapphire crouched down and used the solid metal fencing as cover as she made her way down to her squad, once there she popped out of cover for a moment and shot an enemy soldier hitting them in the chest and they dropped dead, Sapphire continued to do this until she had to reload her M416 a companion of sorts to her on the battlefield it's ACOG sight providing her with comfortable sights down range. Once the cafe was secured Sapphire found a place to sit her forces job done as the Eastern Kingdom forces pulled out fo the sector, the middle-aged commander took the time took the time to look around and saw blood splattered on the wall where an unlucky soul took a hit, she didn't feel sick this time having grown used to conventional war somewhat.....she simply lit a cigarette after taking off her balaclava.

"Hey Commander Sapphire why don't you head back to the HQ and get some rest it's almost sundown anyways....I'll let em know your coming" the familiar voice of the Major filled Sapphire with joy somewhat hearing that after a long day she could finally go and get some rest, Sapphire walked out and hitched a ride with a tank riding it back to the HQ. The metro station was surprising quiet with Rangers and Marines alike walking about, as soon as Sapphire walked in she was escorted by a young female comms officer to the makeshift officers barracks......it became apparent to Sapphire that the siege of Shanghai wasn't gonna be over anytime soon, but for now she found a cot and laid on it after taking her gear and flak jacket off her shoulders aching somewhat but she began drifting off to sleep.

"Hey there!" Sapphire jumped startled but calmed down seeing the familiar face of Recon, Sapphire sighed as the rest of Juliet squad walked in.

"Ah leave Commander Sapphire alone Recon, you're lucky she was brave enough to dig the bullet out of your shoulder" Juliet squad leader Assault sounded just as tired as Sapphire felt.

"Well at least I have three weeks for it to heal somewhat" Recon reported laying on a cot, Sapphire was now curious as to what meant by three weeks.

"Three weeks? I thought we were supposed to advance after a few days" Sapphire wasn't really sure about the situation, Assault sat up looking at Sapphire before shaking her head.

"No that was a miscommunication........we're here for three weeks" Sapphire looked very much shocked but also felt relief before she laid back and tried to go to sleep, Assault and Recon kept bickering for a bit before they literally kissed and made up........Sapphire never truly understood how Stealth OPS does things and didn't care to learn, however, she felt a little annoyed that none of the officers knew what they would be doing exactly due to a fucking miscommunication, but she let such thoughts go and let sleep take her away.

Author's Note

You don't have to like this story.......but I'm not here to write a happy little fairy tale, I'm not gonna make this a happy story.......this a modern war Twilight and her friends aren't gonna swoop in and end the conflict with the message "Friendship is magic" theses are principalities that are also superpowers going to war! Sapphire is used to fighting terrorist guys she knows are bad.......she's not used to fighting other soldiers.......ponies she knows that may not even be bad at all but just following orders, Stealth OPS are unhinged psychos they have no moral compass what they do doesn't matter.......but the soldiers in this war those who are not associated with Stealth OPS have a moral compass but they follow orders, I'm not here to pussyfoot around and have that one guy or gal who saves the day.......no, in this case, nobody is a hero. I could have gone into great detail about the Siege Of Shanghai but I didn't because it doesn't really add anything.......it's soldiers fighting and dying all over the city, so you don't have to like this story because it has stuff that's not in MLP but just know Equis doesn't have magic powering its cities.......this is just a more advanced version of that and with all that comes things such as war and politics, so think about what your getting into before reading a story.